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GOUVERNEUR KEMBLE WARREN. 



No. 1451. Class of 1850. 



Died August 8, 1882, at Newport, E. I,, aged 52 years. 

It would be useless to attempt within our narrow limits to 
review the life work of a man so distinguished in many fields of 
honorable ambition as was General Warren. His scientific record 
will find a place in the memoirs of the National Academy of 
Sciences, of which he was long a member. It is peculiarly for us, 
sou- of a common alma mater, to cherish the memory of his 
soldierly achievements, which have reflected honor upon ourselves 
and upon our profession. 

Gouverneur Kemble Warren was born on January 8, 1S30, 
at the village of Cold Spring, within hearing of the morning and 
evening gun at West Point. He was the fourth in a family of 
twelve children — eight sons and four daughters. As a boy he was 
■ dii. at <1 at the schools of his native place, and for one year at 
Kinsley's Classical and Mathematical School near West Point, 
where he was a student when his Cadet appointment was received 

Reprinted .from the Proceedings of the Association of the Graduates of the U. S. Military 
Academy — Annual Reunion of June i.>, 1883. 



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He entered the Military Academy on July I, 1846, at the early age 
of sixteen, and was graduated on July I, 1850, standing second 
in a class of forty-four members. He was at once assigned to the 
Corps of Topographical Engineers, in the grade of Brevet Second 
Lieutenant. 

The -first duty which devolves upon a young officer often 
exerts an enduring influence upon his professional character; and 
Lieutenant WARREN was fortunate in the experience which he gained 
as assistant to Captain (now General) Humphreys upon the inves- 
tigations and surveys of the Mississippi delta. The work was 
onerous, and peculiar circumstances threw him into more than 
usually intimate relations with his chief, for whom he formed a 
strong personal attachment which lasted through life. 

Lieutenant Warren's first opportunity for original research 
occurred in 1854, when he was assigned to the duty of compiling 
a general map of the region west of the Mississippi. The country 
was then a wilderness intersected by a few lines of reconnoissance, 
and the work demanded laborious and judicious analysis. The 
resulting map and memoir, dated in 1858, exhausts all valuable 
material from the earliest discoveries to its date, and will remain a 
standard historical authority. This work was performed under the 
pressure of other duties and largely at night. During its progress 
he devoted much labor to the joint report (1854) of Captain Hum- 
phreys and himself upon Pacific Railroad explorations, and also 
conducted three separate explorations in Dakota and Nebraska. 

The first of these explorations was made as the Engineer officer 
of General Harney's staff, in his campaign against the hostile Sioux, 
memorable for the victory of Blue Water Creek on September 3, 
1855. One little incident connected with this expedition illustrates 



S Warren's character. He had been sent up the Missouri to Fort 
* x Pierre on duty, while the column was forming at Fort Kearny. 
Time was lacking to rejoin General Harney by water before the 
march began. The direct (norland route (300 miles) led through 
the heart of the enemy's country and was wholly untravelled and 
unknown. Against the earnest advice of his brother officers at 
Fort Pierre, including the commanding officer who regarded his 
destruction as certain, Warren organized a little band of seven half 
breeds and prairie men, successfully made the march in two weeks, 
and mapped his route. This exploit, apparently so rash, was in 
truth the result of an intelligent study of the chances. The weather 
was yet too warm for the probable formation of roaming war par- 
ties, especially as it was the season for making "sweet corn." By 
using no tents or fires at night, and by marching under cover of 
darkness when near an enemy, Warren reasoned that the well 
armed and alert little band could run the gauntlet — and he was 
right. Throughout his life he never lacked sagacity to plan or 
courage to execute. 

Lieutenant Warren's explorations of 1856 and 1857, covering 
many hundred miles, were made with small parties among power- 
ful and semi-hostile tribes, for the purpose of obtaining the in- 
formation necessary for subduing them and for opening the country 
to civilization. He was the first explorer of the now celebrated 
Black Hills, passing through their eastern, southern, and western 
outskirts. His well digested report and military map of Nebraska 
and Dakota have been of great value, both in the development of 
the country and for the scientific information that the)- contain. 

After nine years of this varied and active service, Lieutenant 
Warren was ordered in 1859 to West Point, in the department of 



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mathematics, and he remained there until the outbreak of the 
civil war. 

He brought to the strife an intellect fitted for high command, a 
courage which knew no fear and shrunk from no responsibility, a 
judgment ripened by responsible duties, an earnest patriotism free 
from fanatical bias, and an energy so indomitable that it carried his 
delicate frame through labors and exposures which broke down 
man)' men of stronger physique. Like most soldiers of conscious 
ability, he despised the vulgar arts and clap-trap which form the 
stock in trade of coarser natures; and his magnanimity to the 
vanquished equalled his stubborn persistence during the contest. 

The position of Lieutenant-Colonel of the Fifth New York 
Volunteers was very early tendered to Lieutenant Warren; and 
having received a leave of absence with permission to accept a 
volunteer command, he was mustered into the service in that grade 
on May 14, 1861. The regiment, as soon as organized at Fort 
Schuyler, was ordered to report to General Butler at Fortress Mon- 
roe, and at once proceeded south by sea. It came under fire for 
the first time in the affair at Big Bethel, fought on June 10, 1861, 
where Lieutenant-Colonel Warren was conspicuous for coolness 
and good judgment. He was the very last to leave the field, having 
remained to rescue at the risk of his life the body of his friend, 
Lieutenant John T. Greble, Second Artillery — the first in our little 
band of regular officers to die for the cause of National unity. 
Warren went back with about ten men, on learning of his death, 
and leaving them under cover advanced alone and carried the body 
in his arms to an abandoned limber, which was then drawn off by 
the party. 

On August 31, [86l, he was promoted to be Colonel of the 



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Fifth New York. During the remainder of the year the regiment 
was stationed in Baltimore, where it was engaged in constructing 
the large earth-work on Federal 1 1 ill, and in receiving the thorough 
drilling which made it confessedly one of the very best regiments 
in the service.* 

When the Army of the Potomac moved to the Peninsula in 
the spring of 1862, the Fifth New York accompanied it. Before 
Yorktown it formed part of the siege train under the command of 
General Barry, Chief of Artillery, Colonel Warren in addition doing 
much personal reconnoitering of the enemy's lines as an Engineer. 
The regiment was in camp near General McClellan's headquarters; 
and no officer who witnessed the daily dress parades of his 800 
soldiers in brilliant zouave uniform and splendidly drilled, could fail 
to recognize the skill of the young Colonel as a disciplinarian and 
regimental commander. 

After the advance began (on May 24), Colonel Warren was 
assigned to the command of the Third Brigade in Sykes' Division 
of the Fifth Army Corps, consisting of his own and two other 
Infantry Regiments, a Cavalry Regiment, and a Light Battery. 
With this Brigade he covered the extreme right of the army; and 
took part in the capture of Hanover Court House; the pursuit of 
Stuart's cavalry after the brilliant raid round our rear (marching 
his Infantry 43 miles in 37 hours); the battle of Gaines' Mill, where 
he was slightly wounded, and his horse was twice shot under him; 

* The Prince de Joinville in 1862, in writing of our volunteer army, said : 

"Sometimes an officer of the regular army, desirous of distinguishing himself, and having 
enough of influence in his State, raised a regiment and obtained from it an admirable result. Thus, 
a young Engineer Lieutenant named WarRJ N was marvellously successful with the Fifth New York 
Regiment, of which he was the Colonel. That regiment served as Engineers and Artillery in the 
siege of Yorktown ; and having again become Infantry conducted itself as the most veteran troops 
at the battles of the Chickahominy, where it lost half its force." 



the affair at Malvern Hill on June 30, and the great battle there of 
the following day. The Brigade lost 60 or 70 men killed and 1 50 
wounded in these operations, chiefly in the battle of Gaines' Mill, 
and Colonel Warren was highly commended for gallantry and 
good conduct. 

After leaving the Peninsula, Colonel Warren's brigade was 
landed at Aquia Creek and took part in the movements of the Fifth 
Corps to reinforce General Pope. In the desperate battle fought 
near Manassas, on August 30, 249 out of the 490 soldiers of his 
own regiment were killed and wounded, and his bull-dog tenacity 
did much to cover the withdrawal of the remnants of the Corps. 

Recommended by his superior officers, and urgently pressed 
by General McClellan, he was appointed on September 26, 1862, 
Brigadier-General of Volunteers for distinguished conduct at the 
battle of Gaines' Mill. He had in the meantime been engaged with 
his brigade in the Maryland campaign and the battle of Antietam. 
His command passed through Harper's Ferry on November 1, 
marched to Falmouth, and took part in the Rappahannock cam- 
paign and the battle of Fredericksburg. 

While the army lay in the winter cantonments General Warren 
did much individual work in reconnoitering and correcting the 
maps; and finally, on February 2, 1 863, he was ordered as Chief 
Topographical Engineer to the staff of General Hooker, who had 
just assumed command of the Army of the Potomac. The two 
Corps of Engineers were consolidated by Act of Congress approved 
March 3, 1863; and on June 8, General Warren was appointed 
Chief Engineer of the Army of the Potomac, acting in that capacity 
until August 12. During the six months in which he thus served 
on the staff, his papers prove that he discharged highly responsible 



duties. In the Chancellorsville campaign he took a gallant part in 
the action of Orange Tike, the storming of Marye's Heights, and 

the battle of Salem. 

Few better illustrations of the intensity of life at this time can 
be given than the circumstances attending General Warren's mar- 
riage with Miss Emily F. Chase of Baltimore, then residing with 
her father in that city. Hastening from the front, he arrived at 9 
a. m. on June 17; was married at noon; and on the 20th was back 
at his post actively engaged in the movement toward Gettysburg. 
The life-long sympathy and love of his noble wife lightened many 
hours of despondency under the burden of wrongs which other- 
wise might have proved unendurable to a man of his proud 
and sensitive nature. 

At Gettysburg, where he was slightly wounded, General 
Warren brilliantly distinguished himself as an engineer staff 
officer. On the second day of the battle (July 2d), after a personal 
examination of the right of the line near Culp's Hill, where an 
offensive movement on our part was in contemplation, he was 
drawn to the left by Longstreet's furious attack. At the moment 
when Hood, having outflanked Sickles' Corps, was thrusting for- 
ward his right, Warren had fortunately reached the bold and 
rocky spur called Little Round Top — the key to the whole Union 
position. It was entirely undefended, although occupied as a sig- 
nal station. Appreciating the vital importance of the Confederate 
movement, Warren ordered the signal men, who were preparing 
to avoid capture by flight, to continue waving their flags and thus 
preserve a semblance of occupation while he hurried for troops. 
He soon encountered the head of Sykes' column hastening to sup- 
port Sickles, and assumed the responsibility of diverting Vincent's 



brigade to seize and occupy the hill, using General Meade's name 
as his staff officer. How gallantly this movement was executed in 
a desperate hand to hand conflict, in which Vincent and Weed, 
O'Rourke and Hazlitt, and hundreds of other soldiers in blue laid 
down their lives, is a matter of history. It was one of the many 
turning points of this, the supreme battle of the war, and but for 
Warren's military coup d'ceil and prompt acceptance of responsi- 
bility, Gettysburg might now be known as the grave of the Union. 

The passage of the Potomac after the battle of Gettysburg, 
afforded an illustration of the curious expedients upon which the 
success of engineer operations often depends. The pontons had 
been scuttled, and, as was supposed at the time, destroyed, in the 
preliminary operations of the campaign. It now became necessary 
to patch and repair the shattered boats at once ; and at General 
Warren's personal suggestion, this was done successfully with 
cracker-boxes obtained from the Subsistence Department. 

On August 8 General Warren was appointed Major-General 
of Volunteers, to date from May 3, when he had distinguished 
himself with General Sedgwick's column at the storming of Marye's 
Heights and the battle of Salem. On August 1 1 he was assigned 
to the temporary command of the Second Corps. He had thus in 
two years, without influence other than the recommendations of his 
commanding officers, fairly fought his way from the command of 
a regiment to that of an arm)- corps. 

His first important service in this grade occurred in Lee's 
flank march upon Centrcville, in October, 1 863. On the night of 
the 13th, when the Confederate army reached Warrenton, the 
Second Corps, forming the rear guard of the Army of the Potomac, 
bivouacked at Auburn, distant only about 5 miles. Neither army 



commander knew accurately the position or line of march of the 
other, but both weir manoeuvring to bring on a decisive battle. 
The march ordered by General Meade for the Third, Fifth, and 
Second Corps on October 14 lay along the Alexandria Railroad 
toward Centreville, Lee's supposed objective. During the night of 
October 13 General Stuart, with a brigade of cavalry, found himself 
entangled among the Second Corps, and just before daylight 
opened suddenly with artillery upon the camp fires of Caldwell's 
division. An infantry attack by General Ewell followed promptly 
from the opposite direction. Although repelled, these attacks 
delayed the Second Corps ; so that when it reached Bristoe Sta- 
tion a small gap existed between its leading division (Webb's) and 
the rear of the Fifth Corps, next in advance. The head of General 
A. P. Hill's Corps struck this gap and immediately attacked. The 
moment was critical, but General Warren, who was on the spot, 
was equal to the emergency. With the utmost promptitude his 
two leading divisions were faced to the left and hurried forward 
under fire to seize the railroad embankment and cut, thus securing 
a strong line. A sharp attack by General Hill in line of battle was 
vigorously repulsed, and 450 prisoners, 2 stands of colors, and 5 
pieces of artillery, were captured. Warren held this position for 
some hours with a force of less than 8,000 men, confronting the 
whole *of Hill's Corps (numbering about 17,000 men), gradually 
increased by the whole of Ewell's Corps during the afternoon. At 
dark he was reinforced by part of the Fifth Corps; and during the 
night was ordered to continue his march toward Centreville. He 
crossed Bull Run about 4 a. m. with his wounded and captures, 
having in 24 hours twice repulsed the enemy in superior force and 
marched over 25 miles. The total loss of the Second Corps in 



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killed and wounded was 433 officers and enlisted men; and of the 
Confederates, in killed and wounded, 782 officers and enlisted men. 
General Humphreys, then Chief of Staff of the Army of the 
Potomac, writes: "The handling of the Second Corps in this 
operation, and the promptitude, skill, and spirit with which the 
enemy was met were admirable, and might form an excellent model 
for the conduct ol the rear guard." 

General Meade, in an order published to the Army, said : " The 
skill and promptitude of Major-General Warren and the gallantry 
and bearing of the officers and soldiers of the Second Corps, are 
entitled to high commendation." 

General Warren's next conspicuous service was in the Mine 
Run movement of November, 1863. On the 29th, with his own 
Corps and a division of the Sixth, he reached a position on the 
extreme right of the enemy, which, after careful examination, he 
reported favorable for assault. General Meade ordered a com- 
bined attack, to begin by an assault by Warren's command (rein- 
forced during the night by two divisions of the Third Corps) at 8 
o'clock on the following morning. At daylight General Warren 
discerned that the opportunity had passed; for during the night 
reinforcements had arrived and had so strongly entrenched the 
position as in his belief to render its capture hopeless. He had the 
moral courage to assume the responsibility of suspending the move- 
ment; and general Meade after an immediate personal inspection 
confirming his judgment, the useless effusion of blood was spared. 
This action of a young General in temporal'}' command of a Corps, 
displaying a willingness to sacrifice his own future prospects rather 
than squander the lives of his soldiers, illustrates the character of 
the man. 



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At the reorganization of the Army of the Potomac into three 
Corps for the Richmond campaign, General Warren was assigned 
by the President (March 24, 1864) to the permanent command of 
the Fifth Corps. Space is lacking to trace his personal career 
during the year in which he held this high command. It will find 
a place in every true history of the war. Suffice it to say that he- 
played a conspicuous and honorable part in the battles of the 
Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Bethesda Church, Cold 
Harbor, and especially in the numerous battles around Petersburg. 
Everything that ability and skill, and personal gallantry and devo- 
tion to the cause could do, Warren did; and he received the 
highest reward of a successful General — the confidence, the love, 
and the support of his soldiers. This latter is no vague statement; 
but is based upon the personal knowledge of the writer at the time, 
confirmed by many letters from officers of distinction now on file. 
Indeed the wildly enthusiastic greeting of the whole Fifth Corps 
on its return through Petersburg, establishes its truth beyond cavil. 

We come now to the battle of Five Forks. The operations 
which culminated in this decisive action are fully established by 
sworn testimony before the Court of inquiry which General 
Warren, after nearly fifteen years of persistent effort, succeeded 
in obtaining from the President. Space permits a brief summary 
only of the more salient points; but history cannot now fail to do 
him ample justice. 

At sunset of March 31 the Fifth Corps occupied tin- extreme 
left of the Union position; and General Sheridan's cavalry was at 
Dinwiddie Court House — distant about five miles to the left and 
rear. Both had been severely attacked during the day, and the 
latter was still confronted by infantry and cavalry. At S.40 p. m. 



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General Warren himself suggested that he be allowed to move in 
force against the rear of the enemy operating against General 
Sheridan. On his own responsibility, as early as 5 p. m., he had 
dispatched a strong brigade with orders to attack that force; and 
in consequence of this movement the Confederates withdrew 
during the night from General Sheridan's front. 

About 7 a. m. of April 1, the Fifth Corps and the cavalry 
effected a junction, and under command of General Sheridan pre- 
pared for a combined attack upon the enemy — then at Five Forks, 
a detached position about four miles to the westward of the Con- 
federate main intrenched line before Petersburg. The country was 
much wooded. The cavalry was early disposed along the enemy's 
front, the Fifth Corps (12,000 men) being left massed at J. Bois- 
seau's until ordered forward about I P. m. About 4 p. m. it had 
advanced about 2^2 miles, and formed near Gravelly Run Church 
ready to assault. 

• General Sheridan's purpose was to crush and turn the Con- 
federate left flank with the Fifth Corps, at the same time assaulting 
their line of battle in front with his cavalry. 

The Fifth Corps advanced as directed by General Sheridan, 
Ayres' division on the left, Crawford's on the right, and Griffin's 
in reserve. The indicated point of attack lay too far to the right. 
Ayres soon received a sharp fire on his left flank from the return 
which formed the extreme left of the Confederate position. He 
promptly changed front, assaulted and finally handsomely carried 
tli is angle, taking many prisoners. This movement left the other 
divisions advancing in air with only a cavalry force to oppose 
them, and Warren hastened in person to change Crawford's direc- 
tion to the left, having previously sent orders to Griffin to move 



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to his left and come in on the right of Ayres. The country was 
rough and wooded, and the position of the enemy had been sup- 
posed by General Sheridan to extend much more to the eastward 
than was actually the case. Hence the primary imp< trtance i »f these 
movements, in order to bring the whole Fifth Corps into action. 

In this difficult task Warren was even-where — first with 
Crawford's division, establishing the new line of advance; then 
with Griffin, directing him upon the enemy lying along the west 
side of the Sydnor field — whose exact position he had just discov- 
ered by drawing their fire upon himself; then to Ayres, finding 
him in possession of the angle with many prisoners; then back to 
Crawford, and conducting the advance through the woods so as 1 
continually to outflank the enemy in his attempt to form new lines 
to cover his natural retreat (the Ford Road) and to hold the posi- 
tion at the forks. Finally Crawford's division, still accompanied 
by Warren, and having swept everything before it, found itself on 
the east side of the Gilliam field, but somewhat disorganized by 
the fighting through difficult woods. Confronting it on the west 
side was a new and last line of the enemy slightly intrenched. 

Here a pause occurred, and personal magnetism seemed called 
for to lead on the troops who for the moment had lost their 
organizations in the confusion. Warren having discharged the 
more pressing duty of directing the whole force of his Corps upon 
the enemy, now found time to yield to his natural impulse. He 
seized his headquarters (lag, rode into the opening, and calling on 
the color-bearers to advance, led the charge. His horse fell dead 
under him close to the enemy's lines; an orderly by his side was 
killed; and his own life was probably saved by the gallant act of 
Colonel Richardson, Seventh Wisconsin, who sprang between him 



14 

and the enemy, receiving a severe wound. This charge put an 
end to all resistance. Surrounded by his captures and flushed 
with victory, Warren sent back a staff officer to report to General 
Sheridan and ask for further orders. 

These orders came in writing. They relieved him from the 
command of his Corps and ordered him to report to General 
Grant. 

If the bullet which killed his horse had pierced the heart of 
the rider, Warren, like Wolfe dying upon the Heights of Abraham, 
would have gone down in history the hero of the battle. This 
order, more cruel than the bullet, doubtless caused his death after 
seventeen years of suffering which intimate friends who understood 
his sensitive organization can alone appreciate. It is pitiful that 
one of his last requests was to be laid in the grave without the 
usual military ceremonial, without soldierly emblems on his coffin, 
or uniform upon his body. The iron had entered his soul. 

General Grant, on April 3, assigned him to the command of 
the defenses of Petersburg and the South Side Railroad, and on 
May 14 he was transferred to the important command of the De- 
partment of Mississippi; but on May 27, as soon as he felt assured 
that the fighting was over, he resigned his volunteer commission 
of Major-General, and returned to duty as Major in the Corps of 
Engineers. He received several brevets in the regular army for 
gallant and distinguished services in battle, but with such a record 
as his they need not be named. 

Of his services in the civil branches of his profession since the 
war, I shall here say nothing. They covered a wide range of sub- 
jects, and would give him prominence among eminent engineers in 
any country. The Corps order of General Wright, announcing 



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his death, contains the following fitting tribute to these labors: 
"In scientific investigations General Warren had few superiors ; 

and his elaborate reports on some of the most important works 
which have been confided to the Corps of Engineers are among 
the most valuable contributions to its literature." 

The lives of few graduates more perfectly illustrate the fruits 
of what we are proud to call West Point culture than that of Gen- 
eral Warren. Everything with him was subordinated to duty, 
and he put forth his whole strength in whatever he had to do. 
His tastes were cultivated and refined, anil his reading in both 
literature and science was extensive. A man of warm affections 
and sympathetic nature, he was ever ready to listen to the cry of 
distress. Even after his long experience in war, the misery of the 
wounded and the severe hardships of all his soldiers in some of 
the winter movements south of Petersburg, so touched his heart 
that he wrote to his brother: " I do not feel it much in my own 
person, but I sympathize so much with the suffering around me 
that it seems at times I can hardly endure it." He is now peace- 
fully at rest beyond the reach of praise or censure; but his memory 
is a sacred legacy to West Point and to the Army of the Potomac. 
There is no nobler name upon either roll. 

{Henry L. Abbot}) 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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